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Strange email I just received

by Angela V. Edwards
23 replies
I just received this email:

Please send me info on your PR 10 backlink. I'm emailing you directly because I prefer not to join the spam list for using the getresponce.com system on your site. Thanks.
For a long time I didn't work on building my list. Now, I've got a great product and am using it to build my list. I know that I said the product can be given away as long as it's not changed (because of the links inside, obviously)...but should I send the information to someone directly who won't sign up?

So far, I've sent only one broadcast message to this list. It has in no way EVER been a "spam list".
#email #received #strange
  • Profile picture of the author mmurtha
    Hi Angela,

    Seems more like this person doesn't want to get on your list because of GetResponse being involved. Personally, I don't blame them because I cannot unsubscribe from some people's lists that do use this sutoresponder service.

    No, I don't have anything against them personally because I don't know what features are in the user backend, and no way of knowing if the sender makes it so people can't unsubscribe, or if the system is like that.

    To answer you specific question ...

    If it's only this one person, I might honor their request for this one time only, and then remind them of how they can get future mailings about your products, services, updates, etc ...

    Hope this helps ...


    Mary
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    • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
      Thanks, Mary. Sounds like good advice. I was in a quandry because I always want my customers to be pleased...but was wondering about a person who wouldn't even sign up for the free product.
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      • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
        Hi Angela,

        I have had problems with Getresponse too as a subscriber. But it has been more of a problem with not getting someone's confirmation email.

        Then there have been times that when you do get the confirmation email when you click to follow the confirm you are lead to another Getresponse sign-up page.

        That's why I have Aweber as my service.

        But I did sign up for your offer and had no problems whatsoever. Everything worked the way it's supposed to.

        Matt
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Ames
    Originally Posted by Angela V. Edwards View Post

    I just received this email:



    For a long time I didn't work on building my list. Now, I've got a great product and am using it to build my list. I know that I said the product can be given away as long as it's not changed (because of the links inside, obviously)...but should I send the information to someone directly who won't sign up?

    So far, I've sent only one broadcast message to this list. It has in no way EVER been a "spam list".

    I've had people that didn't want to get my Free report via DL Guard because they had to give out their email address. After a while you get tired of people going around your systems and making extra work. 99 times out of 100 these types will never buy anything anyway. IMHO

    Just like the hoops I went through one time to take a paypal check for a customer. Guess what... after emails, looking into how to change PayPal, etc.. that person refunded right after purchase.
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    Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. -Winston Churchill

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    • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
      Scott,

      That's the sort of thing that concerned me when I saw the email. It's not like there haven't been a small handful of people that unsubscribed immediately after downloading the report (too bad; they're going to be missing out on some great backlink info ); I'm sure there are some who do this pretty much everywhere. So I know that segment of my autoresponder is working fine, too.
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
      True that people can turn out to be a hassle sometimes.

      Since you never know when you have the real pain in the butt or that person who just needs some kindness and patience I try to treat them both the same.

      Joe Girard is in the Guiness book of records as "The World's Greatest Salesman" he sold more cars one year than some of the dealerships.

      He had a "law of 250" ( I think that was it) anyway, he believed that all of us have around 250 people that we come in contact with during a year that we have an opportunity to converse with and when someone has a bad experience with a product or company there is the potential for their negative view of you to spread to those 250.

      On the other hand, if you go out of your way to help someone you are getting those benefits too.

      So, it's best to treat every one of your customers and potential customers like gold if you are in business and you never know when it will come back to you.

      So I try to treat the pain in the butts as I would my cranky old aunt that requires a lot of patience.

      Matt
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      • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
        Matt,

        That's the sort of mindset I approach all of my customers with. I may not have been online for very long, but I've been in customer service for 20 years. I have always "gone the extra mile" for my customers and even for potential customers.

        Your response reminded me that I've always operated with this mindset. Thank you.
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        • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
          Originally Posted by Angela V. Edwards View Post

          Matt,

          I have always "gone the extra mile" for my customers and even for potential customers.

          Your response reminded me that I've always operated with this mindset. Thank you.
          Angela I think that is obvious about you. That is why you are bothered by some people that have put you in this position to try and decide the best way to deal with it.

          If you were not that sensitive to the needs of your customers you would have just blown it off and moved on

          Matt
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          • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
            Originally Posted by Matthew Maiden View Post

            Angela I think that is obvious about you. That is why you are bothered by some people that have put you in this position to try and decide the best way to deal with it.

            If you were not that sensitive to the needs of your customers you would have just blown it off and moved on

            Matt
            Thank you, Matt. That really is truly how I try to be.
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            • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
              I would think of this 2 ways:

              1. Just be consistent with your own code of courtesy and ignore that this person is clearly being exceptionally rude.

              Send a polite message saying something along the lines of "Hi ___, You'll find your report attached to this email. I should also mention that I never send spam of any kind. The emails I send to my subscriber lists are infrequent and filled with high quality content. I hope you get some real value out of the report. Yours sincerely,"


              2. Ignore the message. Who needs rude clients even if this person does eventually buy from you (which is doubtful).

              Kindest regards,
              Andrew Cavanagh
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  • Profile picture of the author Muhammad Jalloh
    Angela,

    I can't advise you on what to do, but I can tell you that I won't honor such a request.

    If they want the report, they should sign up to the list.

    In fact, it is a win-win for you both: they get the great for free, you get another subscriber on your list.

    Sometimes, we may go out of our way to do people favors. At other times, we just do what is in our best interest (building a list, in this case).


    Just my two cents, though.

    ~Muhammad
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    • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
      Hi Muhammad,

      That's what I was thinking when I got the email. If someone won't sign up, why should they have the product.

      I did end up sending it to this one person, but if I keep getting requests like this, I most likely won't honor them. I will simply remind the person that they are able to unsubcribe at any time.
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      • Profile picture of the author Muhammad Jalloh
        Originally Posted by Angela V. Edwards View Post

        Hi Muhammad,

        That's what I was thinking when I got the email. If someone won't sign up, why should they have the product.

        I did end up sending it to this one person, but if I keep getting requests like this, I most likely won't honor them. I will simply remind the person that they are able to unsubcribe at any time.
        It turns me off when people try to take advantage of others for pretty petty reasons.

        But...

        Let's hope his ulterior motives are good and he doesn't come back to ask for more to be sent via email because he doesn't want to be "spammed.":rolleyes:

        ~Muhammad
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        • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
          Originally Posted by Muhammad Jalloh View Post

          It turns me off when people try to take advantage of others for pretty petty reasons.

          But...

          Let's hope his ulterior motives are good and he doesn't come back to ask for more to be sent via email because he doesn't want to be "spammed.":rolleyes:

          ~Muhammad
          Well, at least I can say I know what email this person uses. If he continues to write and ask for products to be sent to him, he probably won't get the same response.
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          • Profile picture of the author Muhammad Jalloh
            Smart Angela!

            Bravo. [claps hands]
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          • Profile picture of the author valerieSONORA
            I wouldn't bother with sending it to them individually. If they want it bad enough, they'll sign up. It's free so it's not like they are losing anything. If you "go the extra mile" for them, you'll feel like you have to do it for everyone else that comes along and wants something extra or special or wants to bypass the opt in and that will just be too time consuming and unproductive.
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            • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
              Originally Posted by annoyedgirl View Post

              I wouldn't bother with sending it to them individually. If they want it bad enough, they'll sign up. It's free so it's not like they are losing anything. If you "go the extra mile" for them, you'll feel like you have to do it for everyone else that comes along and wants something extra or special or wants to bypass the opt in and that will just be too time consuming and unproductive.
              Yeah, that's what my concern was. I sent it this one time, but if I get these types of requests again, I will probably just guide the person back to the opt in and remind them that they will be able to unsubscribe at any time.

              I plan on giving this product away for some time, so I don't want to be spending too much time doing extra things just because people don't want to sign up to a "spam list".

              This one was a toughie for me; I wavered between "going the extra mile" for the customer and trying not to be "taken for a ride".
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              • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
                Depending how you worded the original offer, you could say that the free info is a benefit offered strictly to your list members. Otherwise, if it were a free-for-all, you could have posted it on your website.

                The thing that would concern me would be how quick would this person be to report a legitimate message from you as spam? Perhaps he (or she) has had a bad experience in the past with marketers using GetResponse. But, you just don't know.

                Too many times the people that ask for special favors are the ones that will cause you the most headaches down the line.
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                • Profile picture of the author Mike Montgomery
                  Here are my thoughts:

                  What if you started getting a lot of these requests, would
                  you send it to all of them?

                  How hard is it for someone to have an alternate email address
                  just for this sort of thing (I have about 3 of them) and then if
                  the unsubscribe doesn't work for some reason it's not a big deal.

                  If you send it to the person then you end up playing by their terms.
                  You're the one offering the product and free for that matter.

                  Subscribers do pay a price for a product even if it's free, that price
                  is simply giving you their email address.

                  Just my thoughts
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                  • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
                    That's exactly right, Mike. That's why I was in such a quandry. I have "subcription" email addresses too. I do occasionally look through them and I do sometimes buy stuff, so it's not exactly a 'throwaway' email address. But it is something I use just for lists.

                    And the answer is no, I wouldn't keep sending these out if I keep getting these types of requests.

                    Originally Posted by Mike X. View Post

                    Here are my thoughts:

                    What if you started getting a lot of these requests, would
                    you send it to all of them?

                    How hard is it for someone to have an alternate email address
                    just for this sort of thing (I have about 3 of them) and then if
                    the unsubscribe doesn't work for some reason it's not a big deal.

                    If you send it to the person then you end up playing by their terms.
                    You're the one offering the product and free for that matter.

                    Subscribers do pay a price for a product even if it's free, that price
                    is simply giving you their email address.

                    Just my thoughts
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                • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
                  I hadn't even thought about that possibility. This person already sees the subscription as a "spam list". How long would it take them to 'report me' for spam?

                  Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert View Post

                  Depending how you worded the original offer, you could say that the free info is a benefit offered strictly to your list members. Otherwise, if it were a free-for-all, you could have posted it on your website.

                  The thing that would concern me would be how quick would this person be to report a legitimate message from you as spam? Perhaps he (or she) has had a bad experience in the past with marketers using GetResponse. But, you just don't know.

                  Too many times the people that ask for special favors are the ones that will cause you the most headaches down the line.
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